15

This article explores the conditions under which member States can contribute to the production of European expertise. Commission’s expert groups which comprise experts coming from national administrations can have a central role in the decision making process. Capacities of national administrations to be present and effective in those groups and so exert a real influence on European public policies are nevertheless very different : it is often limited due to human resources problems but also to the specific functioning and institutional culture of those groups. Those difficulties contribute to the fragmentation of the European decision making process and to the growing influence of private sector’s expertise.